Issam Bahnam Matti, mayor of Hamdaniya district, revealed that 40% of the displaced Christians have not yet returned to their homes, noting that 90-100% of Arabs, Shabaks, Kakais and Turkmen have returned to the district as the local administration is working to eradicate post-ISIS war legacy and provide all the necessary public services and faculties in order to resume ordinary life to Hamdania.
In 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria "ISIS" took control of Hamdaniya district (southeast of Mosul) and the damages caused to state departments in the district center (Baghdeida - Qaraqosh) amounted to more than 200 billion Iraqi dinars ($135 million), according to Matti.
Despite the vast destruction and burning of thousands of houses and religious sites, the government has not yet paid any attention to the reconstruction of religious sites.
The mayor of al-Hamdania in an interview with KirkukNow explains how is the situation after ISIS, the process of reconstruction and coexistence among the components of the multi ethnic and religious town.
KirkukNow: The district was restored from ISIS control about five years ago. Have all the residents of the district returned to their homes, or are they still displaced?
Issam Bahnam Matti: Al-Hamdaniya is one of the large districts in Nineveh province with three sub-districts and a number of villages. Ahead of the reign of ISIS, its population was more than 360,000, mostly displaced to other Iraqi cities or to the Kurdistan Region, and some of them immigrated outside Iraq.
After the liberation of the district, a few citizens returned. After that, the number of returnees began to increase gradually. At the present time, all residents of the district from the Arab component have returned to their homes, and the percentage of returnees from Turkmen is 90%, but the percentage of Christian returnees is 60%, meaning that 40% of them did not return because they were more affected than others by Deash (ISIS).
KirkukNow: ISIS has endangered the coexistence of the components in many areas. How did you confront this challenge in Hamdania, and do you think that the continuation of the assistance provided by some organizations to citizens, especially farmers, to urge them to stay and revive agricultural lands will contribute to the return of coexistence?
Issam Bahnam Matti: This issue was one of the difficult challenges. After the liberation, the deterioration of the service sectors was not the only problem we faced, but rather the biggest problem represented in pointing the finger at one of the components of the region for their cooperation with ISIS, despite the fact that all components were afflicted at the hands of Daesh, so the task was very difficult, but with the support of international organizations and following a careful plan to educate the residents, which included forming a group that includes clerics from all components, as well as through educational centers, we were able to restore peaceful coexistence to the region.
The international community organizations have played a remarkable role through their programs and microfinancing such as those now granted to farmers, with the aim of paying attention to the agricultural sector in their areas. I think we have made big efforts int this aspect and the evidence is that Daesh could not popu up in our region except for few cases, and this is evidence that the people of the area are cooperating with the security services.
Kirkuk Now: But security incidents were recorded in several places, for example in the Kakai villages located within the borders of Hamdaniya. Besides, the people suffer from many problems, such as the lack of services and poor roads. What have you given them?
Issam Bahnam Matti: The Kaka’i villages are outside the authority of the army and the Peshmerga. There are citizens of the Arab and Shabak community in those villages. At first, it was difficult for us to reach these areas, even the organizations could not reach them but later, thanks to coordination between the Nineveh province administration and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) projects have reached those villages, where roads have been rehabilitated and organizations have been encouraged to visit. I believe that conditions are improving in these areas. I visited these villages closely, and it is planned to allocate a budget and provide more services for them within the plans for the current year.
KirkukNow: Are there accurate statistics and follow-ups on the damage caused by Daesh?
Issam Bahnam Matti: There is no 100% statistically accurate data to determine the extent of the damage, but some areas worked on this issue and it became clear that the damage to government buildings in the district center (Baghdida - Qaraqosh) is estimated at more than 200 billion dinars, in addition to the burning of 4,000-5,000 houses and the destruction of 200 houses completely, and all others houses were partially damaged, and the service sector in the sub-districts and villages of Hamdania were damaged, but we have no statistics.
There were more than 180 poultry farms in Hamdaniya, more than 150 of them were destroyed, 70%of which have not been restored so far.
Electricity transmission lines have been rehabilitated, but we suffer from a problem of lack of power generation alike the rest of Iraq. With regard to drinking water, there is only one water project in Al-Hamdaniya that used to provide water for 50,000 people in the area, but now it is not enough to meet the needs of the population of about 360,000 people, so Al-Hamdania is in need for more projects.
Kirkuk Now: Components complain about not rebuilding religious sites burnt and destroyed by ISIS militants. Why the government has failed to restore it?
Issam Bahnam Matti: To be frank with you, the religious sites were not priority for the Iraqi government, so we see that the churches of Mosul have been rehabilitated with funds allocated to them by foreign organizations. We hope that the Iraqi government will allocate a budget for the reconstruction of religious sites within its plans for 2022.
Kirkuk Now: At what level is the reconstruction process in the district? Are you satisfied?
Issam Bahnam Matti: After the administrative changes in Mosul, especially after the replacement of the governor in 2019, a major reconstruction campaign was launched in all sectors, especially the restoration of public sector buildings. At the present time we are discussing the issue of the return of the Investment Authority to have a role in the reconstruction.
We can say that 90% of government departments have resumed their duties, for example, Al-Hamdaniya General Hospital is considered one of the best hospitals in Iraq, and in the education sector, most schools have been renovated in addition to building new ones.
The government’s efforts were not at the required level from the beginning, but with the passage of time and through the province development budget, many water and electricity projects have been worked on. I can now say that the conditions are good in Hamdania, I do not say that all services are available, but the service side is now better compared to as it was in the period pre-Daesh.
